Peshawar , Pakistan -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Zara brushes her dark brown curls away from her face , nose scrunched up in concentration as she stares at the white board . She looks down to write and then pauses , placing her little finger on her chin in contemplation .

Like a typical 7-year-old , her favorite part about school is the games .

`` Hide and seek , '' she says in English , giggling sheepishly . `` I like hide and seek . ''

But no matter how hard she tries , there are some things this little girl and her friends ca n't hide from .

`` I am scared from the bombs , '' she sighs . `` I am very afraid . ''

Read Arwa Damon 's blog entry about the children of Peshawar on Afghanistan Crossroads

Zara lives in Peshawar , capital of Pakistan 's Northwest Frontier Province , tucked right up against the Khyber Pass next to Afghanistan .

When the Pakistani military began its multiple offensives targeting its own homegrown militant networks in the tribal belt , the retaliation was felt in Peshawar . It was the residents of this ancient city of 3 million who bore the brunt of an ongoing brutal bombing campaign .

Suddenly nothing was safe . People 's lives were shattered as the city found itself at the very core of Pakistan 's war on terror . A truck bomb in a popular marketplace frequented by women and children killed more than 100 people .

Checkpoints sprang up all over the city , meant to instill a sense of security . But at the same time they created targets of opportunity as they and government buildings were regularly attacked .

Zara 's school is tucked way down an alley off what once was Peshawar 's most popular modern market street . Just out front sits a checkpoint .

These days her school door remains bolted , the bus drivers act as additional guards and parents are discouraged from coming . The school administration wants as few adults loitering around as possible , afraid of suicide bombers .

But there is little the school can do to keep the children safe from the demons that haunt them .

`` When there is an explosion , '' Zara says , pausing before she continues , `` it feels like the Taliban are here . I imagine corpses are all lying on the ground . ''

Her eyes widen and she giggles .

`` I get scared . ''

She may be laughing , but psychiatrists say it 's deadly serious : The children are confronting a faceless and unknown enemy .

`` The exterior smile is a deception ; it 's the only coping mechanism the child has , '' Dr. Rizwan Taj , a psychiatrist in Islamabad , says . `` The child needs counseling , protection , and they are not getting that . ''

The children simply do n't understand why their little world has been affected . The problem is , Rizwan explains , the parents can barely cope with the paralyzing fear that defines their lives .

`` The confusion is n't just for the children . It 's for the adults , as well . The confusion for the adults as to why this is happening , why is this happening repeatedly , it trickles down to the children , '' Rizwan says . And as those emotions intensify , people look for scapegoats .

At Zara 's school we also meet 10-year-old Qainat . We ask her what she likes to do .

`` I like to do painting and I like to ... '' she pauses and looks away . `` But I do n't like America because she is so bad , and also India . ''

She says it 's what her parents are telling her , explaining that the Afghan refugees who have lived in the city for decades are n't responsible .

Having children growing up in such an intense and charged atmosphere surrounded by so much violence can have detrimental effects on society .

`` You will have a very insecure population , a population that can be easily polarized , '' Rizwan says .

He says it 's going to take a collective effort from the government , the media and the international community to prevent Pakistan 's next generation from being a lost generation materializing into a dysfunctional society .

But Pakistan 's medical services are already stretched to the limit . So for the time being , Zara and her friends are left to their own devices , trying to survive in a world their elders ca n't even make sense of -- carrying with them the knowledge that each day could be their last .

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Children in Peshawar live with effects of military offensives and militant retaliation

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Their smiles are how they cope with a faceless and unknown enemy , psychiatrist says

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As emotions intensify , people -- including the children -- look for scapegoats